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Tallygarunga Ghosts
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Ghosts - Spirit life of Tallygarunga
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Headmaster Alan Burdett 
Bonfire night. Time to get rid of some old rubbish!
- Headmaster
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- Group: Head Professor
- Posts: 2,016
- Joined: 17-July 04
- Player:Mousie
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![[MINI PROFILE]](http://tallygarunga.com/forums/public/style_extra/team_icons/miniprofile.png)
Age:43 - Occupation:Headmaster
- PB:Nathan Fillion
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There is no greater shame than leaving a beer un-drinken.
- Location:Australia
Posted 25 January 2008 - 11:32 PM
Throughout it's life, the land that now houses Tallygarunga Academy of Magic has been the site of a number of interesting inhabitants. As a result, the school has accumulated a number of ghosts, four of whom have attached themselves to the every day workings of the school. While they are not constantly present, they have been known to show themselves to particular students and staff.
Catherine Thompson
- Died: 1934, age 27.
Haunt: Tarnagulla Centre, Sturt
Life: Catherine was born to a family made wealthy in the gold rush, and settled in Melbourne for the high life. It was at that time that the land surrounding Murrigal was part of an enormous, and successful sheep farm - the remains of which can still be seen in the lower half of the Gawler building and parts of the Kookynie Halls. Known better as Catie to her friends, the high-flying socialite woman fell hard for the son of Philip Thompson, the dashing and flirtatious Gabe. Recognising a chance to weave more wealth into his personal account, Gabe encouraged her affections, eventually leading to marriage just after her twenty-third birthday. So blinded was she, she did not realise until it was near too late - her husband's affair with one of the farm hands was known throughout the town before it reached Catie. She took a shotgun to herself, though being inexperienced with firearms, managed only enough to mutilate her face before sprinting off across the farm, hoping she would be beyond saving if she was found.
These days she presents as a woman in a blood splattered dress, dark hair messed from the force of the shot, hanging to her waist in curls. She has a bitter outlook on life in general, and tends to put across her views on love (and how foolish it is) to any who will listen. She makes for annoying company whilst in the hospital wing, and can be disturbing to look at. Her jaw is only half existant, and one eye remains closed. Through the years she has come to accept the wizarding kind, and is glad there are at least some (other than cats) that can see her.
Jarrah Najidjeri
- Died: 1844, age 30.
Haunt: Southern Cross Tower, Bourke
Life: Jarrah lived, for the most part, in peace. An Aboriginal of the Bangerang tribe, their land extended across Murrigal, and into what now is the Tallygarunga Academy of Magic. He has watched the land go through extraordinary change through his life, and beyond - the expansion and growth of Narragyambie saddens him. He is still yet to come to terms with white man's need for buildings, permanence and their version of civilisation. It was in 1840, when white settlers first came to the region that the lives of Jarrah, and his large family, were first upset. Though the settlers had set themselves several kilometres south (now Narragyambie), word spread down the river of the cruel happenings, and the natives were worried similar things would happen to them.
They were frightened of the strange animals and ideas that white man brought to the peaceful land, and the curious language they spoke. They stayed to the shadows, kept in the bush, and continued their lives. But as the settlement grew, so did the need to spread across the land for supplies. The kangaroos fled deeper into the bush with Jarrah and his tribe, luring the white man further and further from the settlement until they could go no further - encroaching on the territory of another tribe was an unforgivable sin, the elders spoke at great length of their options, and it was decided that the young men would go forth and defend the family.
Jarrah was one of those men, sent into a settlement he knew nothing of, on a mission. They painted themselves, and prepared for battle. To the sound of women wailing and children confused, they trekked out through the bushlands and to the settlement of Kangaroo Scrub (now Narragyambie). The settlers, frightened by the sudden appearance of the natives, attempted communication - but the language barrier caused their words to be interpreted as threats, and so Jarrah and his group attacked. Each one was killed, their leader, Jarrah, the last to fall among them.
He is still painted and ready, and holds a spear - though he is cut and bruised from battle. He communicates in small, simple sentences, and still displays great confusion at the magic and mayhem of the school. He is loyal to his people even now, after they have long passed - and he watches over their descendants. He is wise, useful for advice in most situations, though his advice is generally tilted to a more outdated method of thinking.
Yvette Simmons
- Died: 1951, age 4.
Haunt: Kookynie Halls, Flinders
Life: In the last of years before the school of Tallygarunga, the land was still being used as a sheep farm. Carl and Eleanor Simmons had inherited the place from Eleanor's great grandfather, and were trying to make a go of their new life before the decision to sell. Carl was the son of an orchardist from south of Narragyambie, Eleanor had spent the majority of her life in suburban Melbourne, coming to the Murrigal region to spend time with her country relatives, and this was how she met and fell in love with Carl. In their first year of marriage, they inherited the farm, and true to the wishes of family, it was decided that they would give it a shot before selling something so dear to the family.
Eleanor had a daughter within the next year, naming her Yvette for her mother. The couple adored their child, and lavished attention upon her. When she was deemed old enough, Yvette would often be found wandering about the shearing sheds after her father - 'helping' with whatever tasks he was doing. Back then, the farmhouse was heated by a large burner to the back of the building, a slide allowed Carl to stack logs into the burner, where they would fall in as the first one finished burning, allowing him to keep the house warm and the water heated without having to stand by the burner all day. It was such a time as he had to reload the wood slide, that Yvette (trying to help) lifted a log much too heavy, and fell with it into the burner. Though Carl tried, he was unable to pull her from the flames, and she died. It was Yvette's death that prompted the couple to sell off the farm to a Narragyambie councilman, and wizard, who had a vision for a public wizarding school.
Though the burner is long gone, Yvette wanders the Kookynie Halls, observing the life she would never get to have. One side of her face is completely burnt, the arm with which she pushed the log is a mess of molten flesh, but there is still a childish sweetness about her that is heartbreaking. She longs to have grown older, and gone to school like the children she sees day and night, and at times can become jealous, watching them grow older and move on, find love, everything she can never have.
Samuel O'Laughlin
- Died: 1993, age 11.
Haunt: Eureka Underground Corridor, Spencer
Life: Samuel was not the brightest of children. Born of a mother who abused every substance known to man, and his father, an alcoholic of brutal nature, his bright and cheery nature was as much a result of his mental underdevelopment as it was his wish to see the bright side of everything. The youngest of four, he was the only child still in home by the time he reached Tallygarunga. With the family low on money, his uniforms were second hand, and barely patched - mostly patched by the school staff, who didn't recognise Samuel had problems beyond the bullies that sought him time after time.
He remained an upbeat child, nothing the bullies did could be as terrifying as what his father was capable of. He saw everyone and anyone as friends, and when his head of house - Alan Burdett - took to rescuing him regularly from the lighting brackets of the Eureka Underground Corridor, he came to respect and adore the man for doing so. Samuel looked up to him as he would an elder brother, often to the point where his presence could have been regarded as annoying. Other staff chipped in, and helped the boy out, though none made the connection between his occasional references to having had worse, and possible family problems. Some time after he began following Professor Burdett around, the end of term rolled around - and he realised with horror that he had no wish to return to his home. He could no longer see sense in the way he was treated, the idea horrified him.
He ran to the office of his favourite professor, asking if there were a way he could stay at the school. Alan assured him it was possible to stay, and sent a letter to the child's parents, explaining Samuel's wishes, and that he should not be expected home for the term break. It was a common place letter, as students frequently decided they would be better off studying, or somesuch, and Alan thought no more of it, until the angry parents stormed his office only days later.
Samuel, who had been playing cards on Alan's desk, hid behind the professor as the visibly drunk Eric O'Laughlin abused the professor, and Marlena supported him. They claimed Burdett was a corrupting influence on their child, and that they were removing him from the school, and his presence forever. Upset, but not willing to push the situation further, Burdett retrieved the child and pushed him towards his parents.
That night Samuel O'Laughlin was murdered as he slept, and thrown into the Narragyambie Lake to hide the evidence. He floated to the surface some months later, as the ropes that held the bricks to his garbage bag-wrapped remains rotted and broke free. He still presents as whole, happy, and healthy - apart from being a ghost. His childish view of the world makes for interesting company, he is still largely innocent. He knows what his parents did to him, though he is glad he got his final wish - to stay at the school. For some reason, Alan Burdett remains immune to his presence, and cannot see him. Samuel wishes nothing more than to assure the now-Headmaster that he is fine, and happy.
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